An Italian Hike

At the third town, Corniglia, the thing to get is this lemon slushy thing made from local lemons. WARNING: It is extremely tart and delicious. Also you might want to bring some toilet paper with you 'cause sometimes the public toilets don't have any. 

General Tip: Have lots of water, bring snacks so you have energy on your trip, and take your time so that you can enjoy it. Also sunscreen!

After a steep hike down we made it to the fourth town, Vernazza, and wandered through tall and colorful Italian buildings before making it onto the main street. We even managed to misplace my mother for a bit, but we found her. This was the first place we went to on the trail that had a bunch of tourists. On the plus side you get to walk through a cave to get to the beach, and who wouldn't enjoy that?! Unlike Ireland these beaches are pebble, but it still has incredibly dramatic scenery. We tried to get into the sea but it was just too darn cold and this is in June. 

The next section of hiking was a bit killer 'cause my mom hit that proverbial wall on the way up and just had no energy, but she pushed through. The final town on the Cinque Terre, Monterosso, is divided into old and new and has much more beach area than the other towns. Alice, Ally, and I actually got in the water this time 'cause we were just so stinkin' sweaty. Don't get me wrong it was freezing but if you just power through and dive in your body becomes numb to it. The water was also amazingly calm and it is just so easy to float in that water because of all the salt. Normally I struggle a bit at floating but this just took no effort. Also the water was crystal clear and you could see straight down to. The bottom. Definitely worth the coldness. And to warm yourself up you can just lay on the pebble beach and pile warm stone on your body ... or at least that is what I did. And then for dinner I had...you guessed it...seafood pasta. I mean how could you not order that? You get fresh seafood 'cause you are next to the sea and fresh pasta 'cause you are in Italy. Done deal!

That night Ally even managed to chat with some older lady about knitting and weaving so it was a good day.

Our final day we took the train to Riamaggorie and man were there a bunch of people there. It had some pretty views and I got this amazing thing of fried calamari and chips for just €5. It was delicious! But it was probably my least favorite town on the trail.

We thought about hanging out there for another day or around that area, but we caught word of a train strike on Sunday so we decided to go ahead and make it to our final stop: Bologna.